Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The path to discovering the best book I’ve read in a decade has its own story, but the bottom line is: “Anything Is Possible: A Tale of Aesop” by Thomas Bähler (Æsop Production Company, 2013) is one that belongs in your library if you seek to shake up status quo and change your life. This book can help you change your perspective, using a brilliant teaching method that was taught to Bähler as a child by his father and his grandmother before him. More on how well that turned out later.

“I wish I could”…”I was going to be”….”I never had the chance to”….”Other people get all the breaks”… “I’ll never be able to...” Are any of these phrases part of what you’ve said to yourself as part of either wistful thinking or negative self-talk to reinforce why you are stuck in a rut, wallowing in mediocrity or are a shell-shocked survivor of shattered dreams?

Do you want to make a change? There’s only one thing you have to do. Believe that anything is possible and reframe your thinking to expect that there are no limits to what you can do in life. The book serves one purpose: to inspire and encourage you that there are no limits to your imagination.

Thomas Bähler proves a faithful guide to showing you the way, but he doesn’t do it for you, You must take his hand he offers, walk the path of Aesop, understand and participate in the Socratic method of asking and answering questions, and the outcome is you’ve made your own analyses, decisions, and created your own future by believing one tenet: “Anything is Possible.”

Young children about the age we meet Aesop are already active dreamers and creators and designers. What some children see when they look at the world is what “can be.” Adults may view a child’s drawing at face value, but ask them to explain what they “see” in what they’ve drawn.

If you listen to an adult who says, “You can’t do that. You’re too young. You don’t know. Instead, it’s an ingenious combination of taking a beloved children’s character, Aesop the Fabulist, and following a path the author created to chronicle his life, beginning with the premise “I wonder what kind of life Aesop had growing up as a slave and ending up as the most respected critical thinker in the world in his time.”

Young Thomas Bähler was gifted with an inquisitive nature to begin with—not unlike our book’s protagonist, Aesop. His first exposure to Aesop’s fables was when his father brought home a record of “The Tortoise and the Hare” for young Thomas. That was a start. In terms of Aesop, it was likely far more on a subconscious level that the Greek fabulist made his impression in the concept of critical thinking through puzzles and riddles.

And yet, it would not be until adulthood that the fullness of education provided by considering the path of Aesop would overtake Thomas Bähler’s life. Now at this point, Thomas was a very successful musician, singer, songwriter, producer, and overall creative who had been in demand throughout Los Angeles studio music circles for many years. Anything he tried came out well. That’s another book “What You Want Wants You,” but its genesis began with “Anything is Possible.”

Aesop was born a slave about 620 BC. He was raised by his mother, also a slave, and her attitude, while she lived, was almost identical to Lillian Bähler’s. When an authority figure takes an interest in you, inspires you by overcoming all obstacles to succeed, undergirded by faith in “anything is possible,” the opportunities that others might never see take on lives of their own and present themselves in such a way that you are presented with challenges and you must develop the solutions.

Taking that premise a step further, Thomas Bähler traces the rise of young Aesop from slave to adulthood by asking himself one question…”What if?” and it’s brother “I wonder what it was like for Aesop growing up.” The result is this fantastic book “Anything is Possible.” What you will find inside is truly…up to you entirely. You can read the words, know how to pronounce the names, search for quick answers and spend a few hours entertained and that’s a win.

Or, you can read the words, see the characters brought to life as Thomas’ writing makes entirely possible, and travel the roads with Aesop and Thomas as they journey through life. You will know 21st-century real-life people to match every characteristic of those in the book: Dione, Croesus, Danae, Helena, Hyksos, Theseus and others.

You’ll find yourself identifying with those characters so closely that you begin to see their faces as the faces of the people you know. You’ll visit and re-visit how you encountered these people in your own life, and study why it is that you reacted the way you did, and more importantly, how you can handle these situations better in the future. The journey is the answer. Aesop’s journey is the answer. Thomas Bähler is your guide and most amiable narrator, and new friend.

How you use what you see, among the questions and answers in the book -- through the eyes of optimistic possibility or through the shouts and yells of naysayers -- will determine how you can reach the highest potential of your life, or whether you remember stable and comfortable in the land of status quo. The book is not a how-to manual nor does it provide specific steps to success. However, what it does do, if you will follow the story provided and stay with the journey until the very end, is to imbue you with the clarity to see your dreams as real, as possible. Once you do, you will be entirely surprised with what happens next.

Get the book. Get the book. Get the book. But only if you want to achieve your dreams—if you dream it, you can do it. “Anything is Possible” is honest, insightful, and perfectly splendid. It truly is a pathway to joy.

About Me

Certified Life Celebrant for Callaway-Jones Funeral & Cremation Centers in Bryan, TX. Living Legacy Tribute Writer and Memorialist. Freelance Writer of Profiles, Features, specialties in Music and Entertainment. Texas A&M Class of '78. Currently a 30-year Technical Editor for Social Sciences and Scientific/Medical/Engineering peer-reviewed academic journals; Former training consultant (team-building, interpersonal communications), and former university administrator and college educator. Strong opinions balanced with a sense of humor; loves all kinds of music and battling worthy opponents in classic TV trivia when time permits.